What Does 1 Chronicles 6:1 Mean in the King James?
The sons of Levi; Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
Levi means “joined,” and this genealogy turns that name into a line carried forward through three sons.
THE MEANING
The verse lets a name be more than an isolated label: Levi’s joining continues through the named branches of his family. It presents identity as something carried through connection and inheritance, not formed in isolation.
THE ROOT
לֵוִי
Levi
GROWS FROM
לוה
To join, attach, or accompany.
In Genesis, Leah explains Levi’s name through the hope that her husband will be joined to her; here that joining continues through three sons. The root lets the genealogy read as more than a roster: attachment becomes a line that carries on.
ALSO GROWS
lavah: To join or accompany.
לָוָה
This verb gives the name Levi its sense of attachment and connection.
malveh: A lender.
מַלְוֶה
The same root can describe a bond formed through lending, extending the idea of joining into a relationship between people.
מְרָרִי
Merari
GROWS FROM
מרר
To be bitter or experience bitterness.
Merari carries the language of bitterness within the same family line. The name allows the genealogy to hold a difficult quality as part of what is carried forward.
ALSO GROWS
mar: Bitter.
מַר
This short form makes the root’s taste plain in Merari’s name.
merorim: Bitter herbs.
מְרֹרִים
The same root names bitterness in something tangible, letting Merari’s name carry a sensory quality rather than an abstract label.
THE PATTERN
What is received through connection can be carried forward through generations.
And she conceived again, and bare a son; and said, Now this time will my husband be joined unto me, because I have born him three sons: therefore was his name called Levi.That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children:And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.THE THREAD
And she conceived again, and bare a son; and said, Now this time will my husband be joined unto me, because I have born him three sons: therefore was his name called Levi.Leah names Levi because she expects her husband to be “joined” to her. Chronicles then names the sons through whom that joining continues, making the name’s root visible as a family line.
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